Cabinet Clears Doubling of Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat Railway Line

• Cabinet approves ₹3,169 crore project for doubling Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line (177 km).
• Project covers five districts, including three aspirational districts—Banka, Godda, and Dumka.
• Connectivity to key pilgrimage sites like Deoghar and Tarapith to attract tourists.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 10th Sept: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the doubling of the Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat single railway line section (177 km) across Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal at an estimated cost of ₹3,169 crore.

The project aims to enhance line capacity, improve mobility, and ease congestion in one of the busiest sections of Indian Railways. It is expected to boost service reliability and efficiency while strengthening connectivity under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

Covering five districts in the three states, the project will provide rail connectivity to important religious destinations such as Deoghar (Baba Baidyanath Dham) and Tarapith (Shakti Peeth), thereby attracting pilgrims and tourists from across the country.

The doubling work will directly benefit around 441 villages and a population of 28.72 lakh, including three aspirational districts—Banka, Godda, and Dumka. It will also support economic growth by facilitating the movement of coal, cement, fertilizers, bricks, stones, and other commodities, with an additional freight capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum.

Apart from reducing congestion and travel time, the project is expected to cut oil imports by 5 crore litres and lower CO2 emissions by 24 crore kg—an impact equivalent to planting one crore trees.